The Air Force accepted the first KC-46A Pegasus tanker from Boeing [BA] on Jan. 10, marking a significant step forward in the service’s effort years in the making to procure a new aerial refueling aircraft.
“This is a major milestone for our next generation tanker and will allow our Airmen to begin operational testing and flight training,” the Air Force said in a press release Thursday morning. The formal delivery ceremony at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, will occur as early as late January.
Boeing is currently under contract to deliver 52 KC-46A aircraft to the Air Force, which has indicated a desire to procure up to 179 new tankers. The company won a $4.9 billion fixed-price contract in 2011, after a lengthy competition with French aerospace company Airbus.
“McConnell Air Force Base will receive the first four KC-46 aircraft, all of which are ready for delivery, with four subsequent aircraft destined for Oklahoma’s Altus Air Force Base, beginning as early as next month,” Boeing said in a Jan. 10 statement. Pease Air National Guard Station in New Hampshire and Seymour Johnson AFB in North Carolina, have also already been selected as future KC-46 basing locations.
Aside from the first aircraft accepted Thursday, nine aircraft are undergoing customer acceptance testing, and the remaining 42 aircraft are in production. Boeing expects to deliver 18 aircraft in 2019, company spokesman Chick Ramey said Thursday. The KC-46, derived from Boeing’s commercial 767 airframe, is built in Everett, Washington.
“This is an exciting and historic day for the Air Force and Boeing, as we hand over the first of many KC-46 tankers,” said Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg in the statement. “I’m proud of the dedication and commitment by our enterprise-wide team, and we’re honored to provide this valuable and capable aircraft to our customer. We look forward to continuing to build and support the KC-46 for the Air Force — and other customers across the globe — for decades to come.”
Altus AFB will be the training base for aircrew for the new tanker. The 56th Air Refueling Squadron was activated in August 2016 has been preparing for the KC-46 “since then,” said Lt. Col. Darin Dial, 56th ARS operations officer, in a March 2018 press release. “New construction and infrastructure improvements to support the new airframe and subsequent training operations are underway, as is training of operations and maintenance personnel,” he said in the release.
Joint Base McGuire Dix Lakehurst, New Jersey and Travis AFB, California, have been selected as the preferred locations for the next two active duty-led KC-46A Pegasus, and will each house 24 KC-46A tanker aircraft, the service said in August 2018. Fairchild AFB in Washington and Grand Forks AFB in North Dakota are being considered as reasonable alternatives during an ongoing environmental impact analysis process.
Boeing was originally scheduled to deliver 18 combat-ready KC-46 aircraft by August 2017, but the program has suffered years of deadline setbacks and cost overruns. The company has been forced to pay out more than $3 billion over the course of the program, Defense News reported in October 2017. In its October 2018 earnings release, Boeing disclosed $176 million in new charges on the tanker program due to cost growth and further delays in certification and testing (Defense Daily, Oct. 24, 2018).
In November, the Air Force downgraded two category-1 deficiencies tied to the program to a category-2 designation after a workaround solution was approved, (Defense Daily, Nov. 16, 2018). The deficiencies involved the centerline drogue system and feedback to the operator on inputs to the boom. Three CAT-1 deficiency reports remain in the KC-46 program; two on the Remote Vision System (RVS) and one on the stiffness of the boom.
Boeing will fix the deficiencies discovered in the RVS developmental testing period at its expense, Air Force Press Office Capt. Hope Cronin said Thursday, adding, “the Air Force has mechanisms in place to ensure Boeing meets its contractual obligations while we continue with initial operational testing and evaluation.”
Ramey said “Boeing will be making additional enhancements to the RVS, which is evidence of our commitment to the Air Force, the warfighters who will operate the KC-46 and the missions enabled by its next-generation capabilities.”
The Air Force is however paying for a hardware change to mitigate the boom issue, and planning for that fix is “in the early stages,” Cronin said.
Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord reportedly had the final say in the KC-46 delivery acceptance. Pentagon spokesman Air Force Lt. Col. Mike Andrews said in a Thursday statement that the department “is in complete agreement regarding moving forward with delivery of KC-46 tankers” and “remains committed to providing the most cost-effective platforms for the U.S. taxpayer, while still delivering the best capabilities to our men and women serving in uniform.”
Boeing completed Phase II receiver certification flight testing in early December 2018, after conducting three weeks of flight tests with F-15E fighter jets near Edwards Air Force Base, California (Defense Daily, Dec. 3, 2018). The KC-46 is now certified to refuel the KC-135 Stratotanker, C-17 Globemaster, A-10 Warthog, KC-46 Pegasus, B-52 Stratofortress, F-16 Fighting Falcon, F/A-18 Super Hornet, and F-15E aircraft.
Phase III receiver certification flight tests on additional aircraft will occur in 2019, when the Initial Operational Testing and Evaluation (IOT&E) phase is also slated to occur, Boeing previously said.
As of Dec. 21, Boeing said six test KC-46As have conducted over 3,800 flight hours and supplied more than four million pounds of fuel in flight to receiver aircraft.
In September, the Air Force awarded Boeing a $2.9 billion contract modification for KC-46 Lot 4 production (Defense Daily, Sept. 10). It included 18 additional aircraft, data, two spare engines, five wing refueling pod kits, initial spares, and support equipment being produced under the basic contract.
In 2016, Boeing received contracts for Lots 1 and 2, for 7 and 12 aircraft. Lot 3 was awarded in January 2017 and included 15 aircraft. The thirty-four aircraft included in lots 1-3 are built and under various phases of completion, and Boeing has begun assembling Lot 4 aircraft as well, Ramey said in a Dec. 20 email.